One way in which electronic equipment is tested is by using automatic test equipment (ATE). In one configuration, such automated test equipment includes a computer, one or more testing resources (such as digital multimeters, waveform analyzers, signal generators, and switching assemblies). An interconnect device is used to communicatively couple a unit under test (UUT) to the ATE (more specifically, to the testing resources included in the ATE). The computer executes a test program set that causes the testing resources to interact with the unit under test in order test the unit under test. The particular testing operations carried out by the test program set are also typically specified in a test specification generated for that particular type of UUT.
The test specification and test program set for a given UUT and ATE platform combination are typically manually created. If the UUT is to be tested using a different ATE platform, a new test specification and test program set are typically manually generated in order to test that UUT using the new ATE platform. If a different UUT is to be tested using the ATE platform, a new test specification and test program set are typically manually generated in order to test the new UUT using that ATE platform.
The ARINC 625-1 standard promulgated by Arinc Inc., among other things, specifies a vocabulary in which a test specification for a given UUT can be expressed in a way that is independent of any particular ATE platform. A test specification expressed in the vocabulary specified in the ARINC 625-1 standard is also referred to here as an “ARINC 625-1 test specification.” However, even if an ARINC 625-1 test specification is generated for a given UUT, a different test program set for each UUT/ATE platform combination typically must still be manually generated.
The manual generation of test specifications and test program sets is typically resource intensive (for example, in terms of labor, time, and money).